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and has participated in all celebrations of civic or national character. By 1816 there were two lodges in the city. Its present membership is computed at three thousand. Its fine temple, on the corner of F and Ninth Streets Northwest, built in 1868 of granite and Nova Scotia freestone, is one of the institutions of the city. Some of the most brilliant balls and assemblies of recent years have been held in its hall.

The Congressional Cemetery, to which reference has been made, is interesting from the number of distinguished men that sleep there.

Elbridge Gerry, of Massachusetts, is buried there beneath a monument erected to his memory by Congress. Near by is the tomb and monument of William Wirt, the orator and jurist. General McComb, the predecessor of General Scott as Commander-in-Chief of the army, General Jacob Brown, A. P. Upshur, Secretary of State under President Tyler, and Commodore Isaac Chauncey are also buried there. In the public vault in the centre of the ground, the remains of President Taylor and of John C. Calhoun were laid pending their interment in native soil. 'A number of lots are reserved for the interment of Congressmen who may die in the discharge of their official duties, in return for donations made by government; but otherwise Congress has no control over it, ownership being vested in Christ Church, as narrated in Chapter XVI.

One hundred and forty cenotaphs, erected by Congress to the memory of such of its members as have died during their term of service, are a feature of the grounds.

Oak Hill Cemetery, equally interesting, lies in the opposite quarter of the city, along the banks of Rock Creek, within the former limits of Georgetown. It was incorporated so recently as 1849, one half of its twenty-five acres, with some $90,000 for improvements, being donated by Mr. Corcoran. The Corcoran family tomb is here, with the Van Ness mausoleum, which formerly stood on H Street, and many distinguished dead, among them Chief-Justice Chase, Secretary Stanton, Professor Joseph Henry, and General Eaton, who achieved no little prominence in the Barbary troubles.

The chief object of interest to visitors is the mausoleum, beneath which repose the remains of John Howard Payne, which in 1883 were brought to this country from Tunis, Africa, where he died in 1852 while in the service of government, and deposited here with appropriate ceremonies.

Of eleemosynary institutions the city directory gives thirty-three, most of which receive aid from Congress. The City Asylum, on the banks of the Anacostia, was erected in 1859 for the poor of the District.

The Freedman's Hospital, in the northern part of the city, was erected by government for the needs of freedmen, but of late has admitted white patients. The Providence Hospital, in southeast Washington, in charge of the Sisters of Charity, was erected in 1867 largely by national aid, and it receives each year appropriations from the national treasury.

The City Orphan Asylum, the Columbia Hospital for Women, the Garfield Memorial Hospital, the

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GRAVE OF JOHN HOWARD PAYNE AT OAK HILL CEMETERY.

Children's Hospital, the St. John's Hospital, the Home for the Aged, the National Soldiers' and Sailors' Orphan Home, the St. Ann's Infant Asylum, the St. Joseph Male Orphan Asylum, the St. Vincent Female Orphan Asylum, and the Epiphany Church Home are important and beneficent institutions.

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THE city government of Washington is in many respects an anomaly in municipal governments, and in its machinery and results may well challenge the attention of students of political science. In its system three commissioners, appointed by Congress, are the source and fountain of power. Washington was formally chartered in 1802 with a municipal government on the old English plan-Mayor and Common Council,-which remained in force until 1871, when it was succeeded by a territorial form of government, with a governor and delegate in Congress. But this, after a few years' trial, proved unsatisfactory, and by act of Congress, approved June 11, 1878, the present city and District government was created. This is so novel in its provisions and has proved so satisfactory, that it should be described in detail.

The first section of the act provides that all the territory ceded to the Congress of the United States by the State of Maryland for the permanent seat of government should continue to be known as the District of Columbia, and should continue to remain. a municipal corporation, the commissioners there

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